I discovered comic books rather late in life. I mean, as a grade school kid I would read comic books from time to time, but I didn't really get interested in them until high school. Brian, who sat behind me in homeroom, introduced me to them. By the time I was a junior, I was reading the larger format pulps like Conan the Barbarian, Kull, Red Sonja and Thor, and tried mightily to emulate the drawing style. After much effort, I became subpar. Oh, well, a graphic artist I'm not. I did learn one exceedingly valuable writing tool from the comics, though: SUPERHERO SPEAK.
If you're familiar with comic books, you're probably familiar with the speech/thought bubbles that are where speech or thoughts are placed to accompany the illustrations. And of course folks like Thor, Wonder Woman and Conan are superheroes. And they often get into struggles, fights, and feats where extreme concentration is required. In instances like these, every superhero reverts to superhero speak- and this is not to be confused with pithy remarks or simple statements of fact. For example, of the following-
"The blog waits."
"I should finish the blog"
"Must. Finish. Blog. AUUURRGGYHH!"
-(the first is a lame pithy remark, and the second is a statement). Only the third example is superhero speak. Note each word is capitalized, each has a period after it, and there's what some would consider to be a requirement for true superhero speak: the somewhat unpronounceable expression of supreme effort, almost always completely capitalized, and finished with an exclamation (sometimes this last bit can be the entire superhero speak- as sometimes words get in the way, and you can bet your bottom local currency that these folks listen to pop music). Please note also: superhero speak is always expressed as two words, and is never anything other than a noun. It is not pluralized, conjugated or declined.
Wrong example: The superheroes spoke was like this: "This. Is. Wrong", grammarian! "ARRRRRRGH!" (Note: the parts in quotes is correct superhero speak- "grammarian, of course, is the "villian" and should be capitalized).
Correct example: Erase. This. Grammarian! SKREEESSSHK!
I hope this clarifies the title just a bit, as I bring this up because I went to bed at midnight, and for the third night in a row could not get to sleep in a reasonable amount of time. No clue why. So, I decided to make use of the time and get one more blog in before the end of the month.
I'm happy to report that since my cataract surgery earlier this month, my vision has improved dramatically.
I think that's about all for now. Oops- before I forget, a thank you and shout to all of my readers around the world and on the ships at sea- the blog broke 14K views worldwide. I've got a new reader somewhere (they're somewhere in Eurasia, but I hesitate to give a shout out because of current conditions there [no, it's not in the Middle East]). Still no one in Antarctica. Sigh. I'm putting the blog to bed... I've got least another hour and a half before I do the same.
As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.
Showing posts with label superhero-speak. Show all posts
Showing posts with label superhero-speak. Show all posts
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Stream of consciousness
(cue the dream sequence music)
I was having this dream. In the dream, Thor was underwater. As is typical of my dreams, I can recall much of it in great detail- and in color. And for the record, no, it wasn't really that Thor: it wasn't the Norse demi-god or the Marvel© superhero of movies, comics, or larger format monochrome comics. No, it was a Norse dude, though, who possessed some sort of super powers, but here's the scene: his dad and family (along with his Dad's once-best-friend-who-is-now-his-worst-enemy) are all underwater, chained at the ankles with their hands bound behind them by an unknown super villain. My dream's hero, Thor, somehow is not chained or bound, apparently as he is estranged from his family but not allied with the other family. So, as the dream (sequence) opens, I see Thor regarding this scene. The other thing that makes me understand that this is not the "real" Thor is that there are two mighty hammers. For some strange reason (hey, this IS a dream, and I'm really not making up any of it), there are two mighty iron-headed hammers with oaken handles wrapped in strips of leather, and they are suspended underwater, floating heads-up and held by the base of the handle by the same iron chains that bind the other folks that Thor sees. He knows the only way to make things right with his father and to reclaim his "Thor-ness" is to grab one hammer in each hand, and get them spinning at a furious speed, and then bring the two spinning hammers into contact, which will free everyone. Of course, physics still apply underwater, so getting these two beast-like hammers to spin at all requires a Herculean Effort on Thor's part. But, he's whatever/whoever he is in my dream, and he rises to the task. He grasps the leather strap handles and begins to spin, and as the RPMs increase, he starts to sweat (underwater!). "MUST... INCREASE... SPEED!," he says in superhero-speak.
(That was probably my longest blog paragraph ever!) I need to take a brief pause here to talk about superhero-speak. I googled the phrase, and I think I may have actually coined it, but the actual concept of superhero-speak is well-known among both comic book and screenplay writers. In English (at least- I'm sure many other languages rely on a similar formula), superhero-speak is evoked when the protagonist (and/or often the antagonist) of a story is faced with a scenario in which they can save their life, or do what is best (or most evil, in the case of the antagonist). In addition to the (usually quite easily resolved moral dilemma), there is the forementioned Herculean Effort required to complete the task which will save (doom) all of Mankind. Because of this effort, the hero can only gasp out the most important words, and generally only three words.
The first word is an auxiliary verb which is probably the first thing on the superhero's oxygen-deprived mind- generally, something along the lines of MUST or CAN'T. Capitalization is vital (it is in English- the entire three word sequence MUST be capitalized! and end with an exclamation!). The next word is a transitive (action) verb, and describes what the superhero needs to accomplish. The last word is a noun, which can be singular, plural or collective. So, true superhero-speak is something like, "MUST... INCREASE... ENERGY", and not, "MUST EAT DONUTS."
So, "Thor" finally got the hammers rotating at tremendous RPMs, and then brought them together; the shockwave shattered the chains and caused the bindings to wilt, and everyone floated to the surface and was safe....
And this is when I woke up. At 0300.
Sleeping arrangements for me are generally something of almost a compromise. Jennifer and I have been married for twenty-seven years, and we both snore. Not a big deal- after that many years, allowances are made. The previous weekend threw me for a loop, though.
One of my coworkers is off on a leave of absence which will last approximately through Christmas. In this time, everyone will need to pick up a bit of the "slack" caused by this absence.
... and this is where everything really started, as my "normal" sleep cycle was completely thrown off the past weekend... the end of Daylight Savings Time.
In the United States, clocks get pushed back an hour ("Spring Ahead, Fall Behind), except that thanks to the "well meaning" US Congress, there is no logic to base the resetting of clocks.
And so here I sit, penning a blog at stupid-thirty because I can't sleep, hoping someone will read it.
As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.
I was having this dream. In the dream, Thor was underwater. As is typical of my dreams, I can recall much of it in great detail- and in color. And for the record, no, it wasn't really that Thor: it wasn't the Norse demi-god or the Marvel© superhero of movies, comics, or larger format monochrome comics. No, it was a Norse dude, though, who possessed some sort of super powers, but here's the scene: his dad and family (along with his Dad's once-best-friend-who-is-now-his-worst-enemy) are all underwater, chained at the ankles with their hands bound behind them by an unknown super villain. My dream's hero, Thor, somehow is not chained or bound, apparently as he is estranged from his family but not allied with the other family. So, as the dream (sequence) opens, I see Thor regarding this scene. The other thing that makes me understand that this is not the "real" Thor is that there are two mighty hammers. For some strange reason (hey, this IS a dream, and I'm really not making up any of it), there are two mighty iron-headed hammers with oaken handles wrapped in strips of leather, and they are suspended underwater, floating heads-up and held by the base of the handle by the same iron chains that bind the other folks that Thor sees. He knows the only way to make things right with his father and to reclaim his "Thor-ness" is to grab one hammer in each hand, and get them spinning at a furious speed, and then bring the two spinning hammers into contact, which will free everyone. Of course, physics still apply underwater, so getting these two beast-like hammers to spin at all requires a Herculean Effort on Thor's part. But, he's whatever/whoever he is in my dream, and he rises to the task. He grasps the leather strap handles and begins to spin, and as the RPMs increase, he starts to sweat (underwater!). "MUST... INCREASE... SPEED!," he says in superhero-speak.
(That was probably my longest blog paragraph ever!) I need to take a brief pause here to talk about superhero-speak. I googled the phrase, and I think I may have actually coined it, but the actual concept of superhero-speak is well-known among both comic book and screenplay writers. In English (at least- I'm sure many other languages rely on a similar formula), superhero-speak is evoked when the protagonist (and/or often the antagonist) of a story is faced with a scenario in which they can save their life, or do what is best (or most evil, in the case of the antagonist). In addition to the (usually quite easily resolved moral dilemma), there is the forementioned Herculean Effort required to complete the task which will save (doom) all of Mankind. Because of this effort, the hero can only gasp out the most important words, and generally only three words.
The first word is an auxiliary verb which is probably the first thing on the superhero's oxygen-deprived mind- generally, something along the lines of MUST or CAN'T. Capitalization is vital (it is in English- the entire three word sequence MUST be capitalized! and end with an exclamation!). The next word is a transitive (action) verb, and describes what the superhero needs to accomplish. The last word is a noun, which can be singular, plural or collective. So, true superhero-speak is something like, "MUST... INCREASE... ENERGY", and not, "MUST EAT DONUTS."
So, "Thor" finally got the hammers rotating at tremendous RPMs, and then brought them together; the shockwave shattered the chains and caused the bindings to wilt, and everyone floated to the surface and was safe....
And this is when I woke up. At 0300.
Sleeping arrangements for me are generally something of almost a compromise. Jennifer and I have been married for twenty-seven years, and we both snore. Not a big deal- after that many years, allowances are made. The previous weekend threw me for a loop, though.
One of my coworkers is off on a leave of absence which will last approximately through Christmas. In this time, everyone will need to pick up a bit of the "slack" caused by this absence.
... and this is where everything really started, as my "normal" sleep cycle was completely thrown off the past weekend... the end of Daylight Savings Time.
In the United States, clocks get pushed back an hour ("Spring Ahead, Fall Behind), except that thanks to the "well meaning" US Congress, there is no logic to base the resetting of clocks.
And so here I sit, penning a blog at stupid-thirty because I can't sleep, hoping someone will read it.
As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.
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